12th February 1955 Duncan Edwards of Manchester United and England was regarded as the superstar of his generation – but forget the wealth of the modern star player. After playing in a local derby against Manchester City at Old Trafford on 12th February 1955 (which City won 5-0) he was later caught by the police riding home on his bike without lights. He was fined five bob (25p) by the courts and two weeks wages by Manchester United for bringing the club's name into disrepute! Tragically he was killed at the dreadful Munich Air Disaster, described below:
Returning home with Manchester United from Belgrade following a European Cup match on 6 February 1958, the aeroplane carrying Edwards and his teammates crashed on takeoff after a refuelling stop in Munich Germany. Seven players and 14 other passengers died at the scene, and Edwards was taken to the Rechts der Isar Hospital suffering from many serious injuries including multiple leg fractures, fractured ribs and severely damaged kidneys. The doctors treating him were confident that he could recover, but were doubtful that he would ever be able to play football again. Edwards regained consciousness soon after reaching the hospital. Over the next two weeks, his condition fluctuated. Doctors had an artificial kidney rushed to the hospital for him, but the artificial organ reduced his blood's ability to clot and he began to bleed internally. Despite this, the day after the crash he asked assistant manager, Jimmy Murphy, "What time is the kick off against Wolves, Jimmy? I mustn't miss that match."
By 14 February, his condition was reported to have "dramatically improved". By 19 February, his condition had deteriorated again, and it was reported that he was "sinking rapidly", with use of the artificial kidney machine developing into a "vicious circle, gradually sapping his strength".
Doctors had said several days earlier that they were "amazed" at his fight for life, and the next day a "very slight improvement" in his condition was reported. Nurses noticed that his circulation was failing, and injections briefly improved this, but his strength ebbed away and medical staff were unable to save him. He died at 2:15 a.m. on 21 February 1958. Hours before his death, by coincidence, a new issue of Charles Buchan's Football Monthly was published in the United Kingdom, with a photograph of a smiling Edwards on the cover.
Edwards was buried at Dudley Cemetery five days later, alongside his sister, Carol Anne. More than 5,000 people lined the streets of Dudley for his funeral. His tombstone reads: "A day of memory, Sad to recall, Without farewell, He left us all" and his grave is still regularly visited by fans.
Edwards has been commemorated in a number of ways in his home town of Dudley. A stained-glass window depicting Edwards, designed by Francis Skeat and paid for with donations from Football League clubs Brentford and Crystal Palace was unveiled in St Francis's Church, the parish church for the Priory Estate, by Matt Busby in 1961, and a statue of Edwards unveiled in the centre of the town in October 1999 by his mother and his former team-mate Bobby Charlton.
In 1993, a cul-de-sac of housing association homes near to the cemetery in which he is buried was named "Duncan Edwards Close". The Wren's Nest pub on the Priory Estate, near where he grew up, was renamed "The Duncan Edwards" in honour of him in 2001, but it closed within five years and was subsequently destroyed by arsonists before being demolished. In 2006, a £100,000 games facility was opened in Priory Park, where Edwards often played as a boy, in his memory. It was unveiled by Sir Bobby Charlton. In 2008, Dudley's southern bypass was renamed 'Duncan Edwards Way' in his memory—this road had coincidentally opened to traffic nearly a decade earlier on the same day that his statue was unveiled.
A housing complex called Duncan Edwards Court exists in Manchester among a network of streets named after his fellow Munich victims, including Eddie Colman, Roger Byrne and Tommy Taylor. On 8 July 2011 a Blue Plaque was unveiled by Bobby Charlton at the site of the digs in Stretford where Edwards and other United players lived, and in 2016 local dignitaries in Dudley launched a fundraising drive with the aim of placing a similar plaque in the town. In 2022, a new leisure centre complex opened in Dudley and was named the Duncan Edwards Leisure Centre.
In 1996, Edwards was one of five deceased players chosen to appear on British stamps issued as part of a "Football Legends" set issued to commemorate the UEFA Euro tournament, which England was hosting. He was portrayed by Sam Caflin in the 2011 British TV film "United" centred on the Munich disaster and the success of the team in the two years leading up to it.
In recognition of his talents Edwards was made an inaugural inductee to the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002. His memorabilia were exhibited at Dudley Museum prior to its closure, and was subsequently sold to Manchester United with a selection to be loaned back for display at the Dudley Archives.
Terry Venables said that, had he lived, it would have been Edwards, not Bobby Moore, who lifted the World Cup trophy as England captain in 1966. Tommy Docheerty stated that "there is no doubt in my mind that Duncan would have become the greatest player ever. Not just in British football, with United and England, but the best in the world. George Best was some thing special, but in my mind Duncan was much better in terms of all-round ability and skill."
